Indian shares inch up; IT sector soars

Indian shares inched higher on Thursday on the back of gains in metal stocks as global aluminium prices soared, while Tata Consultancy Services Ltd rose ahead of its results.

The NSE metal index jumped as much as 4.2 per cent as aluminium prices on the London Metal Exchange surged 5.0 per cent to their highest in almost seven years on Thursday.

Shares of Vedanta Ltd rose as much as 6.1 per cent to their highest since March 19, while National Aluminium Co Ltd gained nearly 10 per cent to hit its highest in over three months, reports Reuters.

The broader NSE index was up 0.31 per cent at 10,558.70 as of 0552 GMT, while the benchmark BSE index was 0.22 per cent higher at 34,405.68.

Investors cheered March-quarter results of IT firm Mindtree Ltd, sending the shares to their all-time high, while cement maker ACC Ltd climbed to a five-week high after reporting a 19 per cent jump in quarterly profit late Wednesday.

Information technology stocks bounced back from recent losses with the NSE IT index up more than 1.0 per cent and TCS gaining nearly 1.6 per cent.

Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd plunged as much as 6.1 per cent to hit its lowest since early January 2017, while Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd touched its lowest since late September 2016, dropping nearly 6.0 per cent.